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Hail to the Old Gold, Hail to the Black?
Showing your school spirit did not always mean wearing orange and blue.
The orange (and blue) that appeared to be everywhere during basketball season only seem as if they have been Illinois' colors forever. During the University's first quarter-century, a loyal Illini may have donned gold and black or green and white.
Patrick Hayes, a development officer in LAS who once worked for the UI Alumni Association, discovered this little-known nugget of trivia in 1983, in response to an inquiry from an engineering professor about the origins of the university colors. Hayes rooted through old files in the Alumni Association office, the library, and the University Archives. He found, to his surprise, that orange and blue were latecomers to the scene.
"As nearly as I could determine, there were no official colors from the university's founding in 1867 until 1894," says Hayes. There were various color schemes. At one time, there were even two color schemes in play.
For many years, gold and black were featured at University functions. The colors fell out of favor as more Midwestern universities began to adopt them. "Dartmouth" green and white reigned in 1893, selected by the new athletic director, who, as it so happens, was a Dartmouth College graduate.
Then in 1894, the inauguration of a new university president-and need to buy bunting-prompted the campus to convene a faculty committee to make recommendations. Their first choice was orange and white, which met with objections by the Athletic Association (with its new green and white uniforms). A compromise was put to a vote before a convocation of faculty and students. The choice was unanimous-orange and navy blue. President-elect Andrew S. Draper pronounced it a noble choice. Orange stood for freedom; blue for steadfastness and stability!
The rest, as they say, is history.
April 2005
[This story was adapted from an article that first appeared in IlliniWeek, October 27, 1983.]
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